A magnificent Wembanyama gives the victory to the Spurs and steals the spotlight from Doncic’s successor: Cooper Flagg, number one in the NBA draft | Basketball | Sports

It was going to be a night to remember at Boston’s TD Garden, but it ended up being a lesson. Patience, the time will come. The 19-year-old from Madrid, Hugo González, was on the verge of making his NBA debut this Wednesday in the United States during the Celtics’ 116-117 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers. Towards the end of the third period, Joe Mazzulla called out to the Spanish rookie, who stood in front of the scorer’s table waiting for the change. It was barely a minute, but the coach said goodbye and returned the kid to the bench: ‘debut interruptus’.

Jaylen Brown encouraged González, number 28 in the 2025 Draft, with a couple of pats on the back, who seemed to take the situation with integrity after having accumulated merits and praise throughout the preseason. The opportunity should come sooner rather than later, perhaps early Saturday morning in Spain in a temple like Madison Square Garden and against an iconic team like the New York Knicks. From the wing, the Real Madrid youth player saw how his teammates melted in the last quarter after having led the match by 13 points and reaching the final period with an 11 margin, with an unexpected hero for the Sixers.

The other great protagonist of the second day of the course was Victor Wembanyama, who with 40 points and 15 rebounds reminded the entire NBA why he is the future, and the present, of the competition. The French alien, skilled as a point guard and giant as a center, was the most applauded by the fans in the San Antonio Spurs’ 92-125 away victory over the Dallas Mavericks. At 21 years old, a blood clot cut his progress short last year, and since then he has worked intensely to improve his mobility on the hardwood and return to competition with guarantees.

In the shadow of ‘Wemby’ were Anthony Davis (22 points and 13 rebounds) and Cooper Flagg, number one in the Draft and author of 10 points and 10 rebounds in a dull debut for the guy called to replace Luka Doncic in the Texan franchise.

VJ Edgecombe, number three in the last Draft, signed one of the most famous debuts in NBA history with a great game of 34 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists, the highest score by a rookie in the league since the times of Wilt Chamberlain, who in 1959 started his record-breaking career with 43 points, defending the colors of Philadelphia, at that time the Warriors. “I worked every day, all my life, for moments like this. This is my dream,” said the 20-year-old Bahamian player. The guard also surpassed records by Allen Iverson –best debut by a ‘Sixer’ with 30 points in 1996– and LeBron James –most points in his first quarter of competition (12)–, starting his magical night in the NBA with 14 points.

The 2023 MVP, Joel Embiid, returned to action after eight months in dry dock, and in his 20 minutes on the court he was barely able to contribute 4 points, 6 rebounds and 2 assists, still far from his best version, at times unable to jump with his glass knees. Tyrese Maxey, point guard for the team led by Nick Nurse, led the victory with 40 points. The Celtics were led by Jaylen Brown and Derrick White, both with 25 points.

The bench was the tone for the Spanish at the close of the opening day of the 2025-26 season. The Canarian Santi Aldama started his fifth season with the Memphis Grizzlies with a 128-122 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans. The power forward contributed 5 points, 6 rebounds and 2 assists in 24 minutes of play, acting as the sixth man of the group led by Ja Morant, author of 35 points. Eli Ndiaye, also a Real Madrid youth player, was inactive during the start of the season for the Atlanta Hawks, beaten by the Toronto Raptors (118-138). Catalan Jordi Fernández, at the beginning of his second season as head coach of the Brooklyn Nets, the youngest team in the competition, lost 136-117 to the Charlotte Hornets.